<USS Avalon> "Pathogen Conference - Part 3 - Home James"

Pathogen Conference - Part 3 - Home James


by Lt. Sussanna Jameson and Dr Gregory Williams

The heat beat out a slow pulse against her bio-suit's visor. Despite the 
controlled atmosphere inside the suit, beads of sweat started to roll down 
Anna's forehead, collecting in her eyebrows. Mirages shimmered on every horizon 
and on the peak of the sand dune they were climbing. Once at the top, their 
guide's voice crackled over their headsets, telling them all about the first 
settlers. This place really had been a frontier town.

An oasis surrounded by green, growing, struggling life nestled at the bottom of 
a valley at their feet. Anna ignored it. They would be taken down to see it 
eventually. Instead, she turned her head to face each horizon, losing herself 
in the neverending desert. Behind them, the dome glittered, shielding its 
occupants from Alpha Centauri A's pulsing radiation. The star itself was larger 
that the Sun and, even though the planet sat within its habitable zone, the 
greater stellar activity made it surprising that any life existed outside of 
the dome at all. In fact, for centuries, Sol's comparitively rare inactivity 
had surprised and puzzled astronomers. The most surprising thing of all, 
though, was that life, even intellegent life, was not restricted to stable, 
inactive systems with nicely behaved stars like Earth's Sun.

The trip into the desert had actually been postponed until the final day of the 
conference because of a magnetic storm on Alpha Centauri A's surface. Glancing 
up very briefly, Anna could almost make out a stellar flare through the 
polarised surface of her visor. Its tortured plasma ropes twisted onto 
themselves, contorting under their own weight, which finally pulled them down 
to crash uselessly back into the ever-churning surface of the star.

Following the guide down into the basin, the party were shown the natural 
vegetation of the planet. Despite not being a botanist, even this tiny 
microcosm of life fascinated Anna. They had been shown several specimens back 
at the university. Small, robust bushes with flat, fleshy leaves squatted 
around the bases of tall, several trunked almost palm-like trees. Wide based, 
pod-like planets spread themselves over at least a metre, some extending out to 
ten or twelve metres wide, beside the clear pool. These were particularly 
interesting as they exploded on contact, spraying caustic juices over a huge 
diammeter.

According to their guide, small rodent-lizard-like creatures lived within the 
shifting sands but nothing except the vegetation ever ventured above ground. Dr 
Williams asked question after question about the intricate relationships of the 
life on this planet. Each answer seemed to sporn a dozen new questions for him 
to ask. His obsession with learning more resonated with her own and impressed 
her a great deal.

As they were grouped back together to return, Anna took a last look around the 
empty yet life-filled endlessness. Her gaze swept over the sand dunes, taking 
in the oasis and dust storms, finally settling back on the group of scientists. 
In fact, she found her eyes drawn to Dr Williams who, instead of bombarding the 
guide yet again, had fallen quiet and appeared to be looking directly at her. 
He smiled shyly and then turned away. In the moment that their eyes had met, 
her awe of the man tripled. It was simple, professional respect, it had to be. 
Anna never formed crushes on her lecturers and superiors. Well... other than 
Lissi, but she's the exception that proves the rule.

---------------------------------

Brushing a piece of fluff off of the shoulder of her whites, Anna appraised 
herself in the mirror. Her uniform clashed with her hair! Frowning, she 
contemplated dying it just for the evening. A flash of inspired silliness made 
her grin. Blue, she thought, to match my collar. The idea was dismissed as 
quickly as it had formed. She hadn't changed her hair colour since after her 
mother died. Nothing, not even a clashing uniform, was going to make her dye it 
now.

The reception hall was already buzzing with attendees and lecturers. Taking the 
proffered thin stemmed glass of sparkling wine, Anna glided from clique to 
chattering clique. Mostly though, she ignored them. No one interested her. They 
were all too wrapped up in their own self-importance.

A bell rang and everyone began filtering into the dining hall. All of the seats 
had been assigned beforehand. Clutching her invitation, Anna wound between the 
rows of already occupied seats. Once she found her own place, she glanced at 
the people around her. With a jolt, she realised that the majority of them were 
lecturers and opposite her eyes fell into the stunning deep blues of Dr 
Williams.

"I... I think I'm in the wrong seat," she said as she turned away.

Greg smiled. "Well, let's have a look." He took her invite and shook his head. 
"I'm afraid not, you've been stuck here with the nerds." Shrugging, he grinned. 
"Sorry, you'll just have to rough it."

The evening passed relatively pleasantly. Anna said very little, preferring to 
listen to the intellectual banter of those around her. She followed most of it, 
surprising herself when she joined in once or twice. On those occassions, Dr 
Williams laughed the loudest and, apparently, most genuinely. Anna found 
herself warming to the company and this man in particular.

Slowly, the hall began to empty. Anna's head bobbed toward the table, she 
jerked upright and frowned.

Time to sleep. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I've an early transport in the 
morning and I can't function on less than two hours' sleep."

Inclining her head toward the remaining occupants of the table, Anna stole a 
last smile at Dr Williams before heading back to her room.

---------------------------------

She was stunning! Greg laughed as he wandered, half staggering back to his 
suite. Witty, intellegent and entertaining, the mere thought of the australian 
made him want to giggle like a schoolboy. What was her name again?

"Ah yes, Lieutenant Sussanna Jameson, MD." He finally gave in and giggled. 
"What a woman!"

Dancing through the door to his rooms, Greg threw himself on his bed and closed 
his eyes. The image of Anna's smiling face was the last thing he saw before 
sleep dragged him under.

---------------------------------

The mechanical bird stared at him, its beady amethyst eyes glittered in the 
twin lights of the stars. Opening its beak, it revealed two rows of sharp, 
serrated teeth. It drew in a great, sucking breath, pulling air out of his 
lungs to fuel its call. He flinched in anticipation of the squawk.

Chirrup... Greg blinked, a beige ceiling briefly coming into view. Chirrup... 
The world span, a great violent wrenching dragged his mind through itself. 
Chirrup... Both eyes shot open at once only to flinch closed the instant the 
light seered through them.

Two tone beeping from the room's main console finally forced Greg from his bed. 
Bleary eyed and frowning, he whacked the button to accept the call. A familiar 
face formed. It took three blinks before he could put a name to the person.

"Professor Nelson," Greg croaked, "what can I do for you at," he squinted at 
the chronometer, "four thirty in the morning?"

"Greg," the grey haired, grey faced elderly man said. "You look sick."

"Too much brandy, not enough sleep."

John Nelson grunted, his face a mask of regret. "A disturbing incident has been 
brought to my attention." Those crystal blue eyes finally met Greg's. "Now I 
know there's no founding in it, I have complete faith in your ethical 
practices. But..."

Sighing, Greg let his head fall into his hands. "This is about the Romulan 
comment in my lecture, isn't it?"

"Yes. Truth be told, you could have handled it better." Greg heard a hurrumph. 
"You used the Romulans, man. Any other race and you would have been fine, but 
the Romulans? What were you thinking?"

"I just used the first example that came to mind."

"I know, I know. In any normal situation within academia, you would have been 
fine, but there were proper Starfleet Officers in that audience. Men and women 
who have served during hostilities with the Empire. They're finding it hard to 
adjust as it is without having some know-it-all, head-in-the-clouds academic 
muddy the waters."

Raising his head, Greg poured all of his affront into his eyes. 
"Head-in-the-clouds, know-it-all?"

"You've spent too long in the safe world of education. You need to get out into 
the real world."

"What are you saying?"

"It is the unanimous opinion of the University's Board of Directors that you 
need to get some field experience."

"What?"

"We're sending you to work in a Science department of a ship. The USS Avalon to 
be precise. All of the details of your new assignment are being sent over as we 
speak. Go and learn how Starfleet functions and when you come back, you'll be a 
better scientist for it." The old man smiled fondly. "Trust me, you'll enjoy 
yourself."

The console winked blank and Greg sat staring at the infinite blackness of 
nothing. Slowly, data filtered onto the screen. His orders, travel 
arrangements, details about the ship and her captain: a whole world of things 
he didn't want to know about. And yet his eyes were drawn to it. He read on and 
on, his peculiar security clearance giving him access to mission details that 
fascinated him. Devastation turned to curiosity, which turned to excitement.

With a jerk, he realised that he had barely an hour to get to the launch bay 
for his transport. Throwing a few clothes in a carry-all, Greg downloaded all 
of his research to his PADD and dashed out of the door, still wearing his 
whites from the night before.

---------------------------------

Quietly Anna growled as the boarding call sounded for the return trip to 
Avalon. Uncurling from her seat in the Departures Lounge, she slunk toward the 
gate to take her place in the queue. The back of the man's head three people in 
front seemed vaguely familiar but she brushed it aside and shuffled up the ramp.

Dumping her boarding pass on the clerk's desk, she was waved toward the middle 
section of the ship. No window seat this time. Tiny, cramped quarters, where 
the only comfort was the bed, awaited her. Curling up in the blankets, Anna 
chose to sleep for as much of the trip as she could.

---------------------------------

"Good evening, Lieutenant Jameson," called the cheerful bouncing form of the 
shuttle pilot. He stood in the airlock linking the ship and the shuttlecraft. 
"Ready to head home?"

"Hell yeah, home James and don't spare the horses." She winked at the yeoman as 
she settled herself in the back. Glancing over, she frowned in confusion when 
the young man didn't follow her in. "There's only me, we can leave now."

"Sorry sir, we're waiting on one other, a new crew member. You don't mind, do 
you?"

"Of course not, I was just a little confused. Don't mind me, my brain's not 
firing on all neurons. It's been a long week."

Chuckling, the pilot came to lean against the door. "I had a brief look at the 
program on the way over, it was all way too intellectual for me. I just about 
recognised every tenth word."

A deep, rolling laugh came from behind him. "Oh come now, you don't do yourself 
justice. I'm sure you understood more than you claim."

"Sergeant Major Williams?" asked the yeoman.

"That's me." He smiled as he sat next to the gaping Anna.

"All here and accounted for, who's ready to go home?" Punching in the codes to 
get them moving, Yeoman Mumbazo chuckled. "Anyone who wants off, it's too late 
now."

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